Label for containers having irregular side surfaces



Feb. 17, 1970 L. G. WIENECKE, JR F} 3,

LABEL FOR CONTAINERS HAVING IRREGULAR SIDE SURFACES Filed Oct. 15, 1967 2 Sheets Sheet 1 g l LABEL I I8 I V I a l l F/G.Z

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I 5 I LABEL 5 INVENTOR. l L.G.WIEN\ECKE,JR.

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A T TORNEYS Feb. 17,1970 L. G.W1ENECKE, JR 3, 95,

LABEL FOR CONTAINERS HAVING IRREGULAR SIDE SU RFACES Filed Oct. 15, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENT A 7' TORNE Y5 United States Patent O 3,495,758 LABEL FOR CONTAINERS HAVING IRREGULAR SIDE SURFACES Louis G. Wienecke, .Ir., Mission, Kans., assignor to Phillips Petroleum Company, a corporation of Delaware Filed Oct. 13, 1967, Ser. No. 675,205 Int. Cl. B6511 43/00 US. Cl. 229-43 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A label for side identification of a container having irregular side surfaces is attached to the top and bottom portions of the container.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to an article of manufacture comprising, in combination, a formed container and a label. In one aspect, this invention relates to a formed container having a side label attached to the top and bottom of the container. In another aspect, this invention relates to a container having one or more side labels where each side label is a continuation of the cover for the container and the end of the side label remote from the top of the container is attached to a portion of the bottom of the container. In another aspect, this invention relates to a container with a cover where a label is attached to the cover of the container and this label continues down one or more sides and is attached to a portion of the bottom of the container thereby providing a top label and at least one side label for the container.

In the container field there is an ever increasing use of containers which have a relatively rigid base made from an easily formable material such as plastic. Many of these containers have irregularly shaped side surfaces to provide ribs for strength or to provide a desired esthetic design for the container. A cover is provided which is formed from a relatively rigid plastic material and interlocks with the top edge of the container base or a film of heat scalable material is sealed to the top edge of the container. Due to the techniques of modern sales engineering, it is often desired that these containers be highly illustrated. Also, there is a need for side labels on these containers so that the contents of the containers and/or brand indicia may be readily ascertained when the containers are placed in a vertical stack or placed on a high shelf. There has been a problem of printing on the sides of these containers having irregular side surfaces, such as due to reinforcing ribs which are located in tr e sides of the container base to give the container added strength. The irregular sides formed by these reinforcing ribs provide only a limited area on which side labels can be attached, thereby increasing the possibility that the side label may fall off of the container during handling.

It has been found that these problems can be overcome by attaching the side label to the cover and bottom of the container which are relatively smooth as compared to the irregular side wall. The side label can be a continuation of the material used for the cover of the container or it can be a separate sheet which is attached to the cover and to the bottom. The label may be heat sealed to the container top and bottom if the label is of a heat scalable material or the label may be attached by any type of adhesive. In a present preferred embodiment where the container base has an outwardly extending flange around the upper end of the container walls for securing a film cover thereto, it has been found that the invention provides an additional advantage in that the flexible nature of the outwardly extending flange pro "ice vides sufiicient resiliency for the side label that tearing off the side label is minimized.

Therefore, it is the object of the present invention to provide a label for containers which allows easy side identification of the container when the container sides are irregular. Another object of the invention is to provide a resilient side label for a container having irregular side surfaces.

Other aspects, objects and the several advantages of the invention will be apparent from a study of the disclosure, the drawings, and the appended claims to the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the accompanying drawings, FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of a container base and a cover where one edge of the cover extends beyond the edge of one end of the container; FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the covered container of FIGURE 1; FIGURE 3 is an end elevational view of the container of FIGURE 1 with the cover extension folded downwardly and attached to the bottom of the container to provide a side label in accordance with the present invention; FIGURE 4 is a partial view in cross section along 4-4 of FIGURE 3; FIGURE 5 is a top plan view of a covered container of the type of FIGURE 1 but with the side label being tapered; FIGURE 6 is a top plan view of a covered container where the cover and four side labels are formed from a single piece of sheet material; FIGURE 7 is an end view of a container in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention where the side label is attached to a separate container cover and the bottom of the container; FIGURE 8 is a partial view in cross section along line 88 of FIGURE 7.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to FIGURE 1, there is shown a rela tively rigid container base 10 having reinforcing ribs 12 along the upstanding sides and a combination cover and side label member 14. Container base 10 can be formed by any suitable process known in the art, for example, injection molding or vacuum molding. Container base 10 can be made out of any suitable material known in the art, for example, polyethylene, polypropylene, or other suitable thermoplastics and/or thermosetting resins. Container base 10 is provided with an integral, peripheral flange 16 projecting outwardly therefrom and parallel to the edge of the top of the opening in container base 10.

Combined cover and side label member 14 is shown in FIGURE 1 with the member 14 in a horizontal plane to illustrate the relative position between member 14 and container base 10 prior to the outer margin 18 of member 14 remote from flange 16 being attached to the bottom 19 of container base 10. Cover member 14 can be formed of any suitable material known in the art, for example, a film of polyethylene, polypropylene or similar material, or a laminate of a thermoplastic film and a sheet of paper and/or metal foil.

Member 14 is first attached to flange 16 by any method known in the art, for example, by heat sealing member 14 to the upper surface of flange 16, to form a cover portion 21 as shown in FIGURES 2 and 3. The seal formed need not be liquid tight for the packaging of dry products, but a liquid tight seal is preferred to prevent loss of the contents. Next the extended portions 22 and 18 of member 14 which do not form cover portion 21 are folded downwardly along line 23 to form the side label. The outer margin 18 is then folded inwardly along line 24 and attached to the bottom of container base 10. Outer margin 18 can be attached to the bottom 19 of container base 10 by any means known in the art, for example, heat sealing or adhesive. Product and/or brand identification can be printed on side portion 22 in any method known in the art. Also, identification and illustrations can be placed on cover portion 21. The resiliency of outwardly extending flange 16 enables side label 22 to withstand greater impact forces without tearing side label 22 than would be possible if side label 22 were to be separately attached with the upper portion thereof attached to the side wall of container base 10 immediately below flange 16.

Referring now to FIGURE there is illustrated a combined cover and side label member 31 which represents a modification of the label member 14 of FIGURE 2 in that side label portion 32 and outer margin 33 are tapered along the sides thereof to conform to the tapered cross section of container base This feature eliminates the possibility of snagging which could be encountered with the exposed corners 34 and 35 of the member 14.

Referring now to FIGURE 6 there is illustrated a further embodiment wherein the combined cover and side label member 41 is provided with the four side label portions 42, 43, 44 and 45 in addition to cover portion 46. Each of side label portions 42, 43, 44 and 45 is pro vided with an outer margin, 47, 48, 49 and 50, for securing the respective side label to the bottom of the container base. Each of the side label portions have the vertical edges thereof tapered to conform to the tapered cross section of the container base.

Referring now to FIGURES 7 and 8, container base 51 is provided with the irregular side surfaces due to the presence of reinforcing ribs 52. A cover film 53 is sealed to the upper surface of outwardly extending flange 54 of container base 51. A separate label 55 having top label portion 56, side label portion 57 and outer margin 58 is attached to the top of cover film 53 and to the bottom of container base 51. If desired, label 55 can extend across only a portion of the container or label 55 can be provided with a side label portion for the opposite end of the container in addition to side label portion 57, or label 55 can be made in the shape of label 41 of FIGURE 6. Label 55 can be made of any suitable material, for example, a thermoplastic film, paper, metal foil or a laminate of two or more of such materials. While cover 53 is illustrated as a film, it can be a relatively rigid formed cover member with a depending peripheral flange means for snapping over the upper rim of container base 51. The label 55 can be bonded to the cover film 53 and to container base 51 in all areas of contact or only in selected areas of contact. Such bonding can be effected by heat sealing, adhesive, or any other suitable means.

I claim:

1. An article of manufacture comprising a relatively rigid container base having a bottom and a plurality of generally upstanding side walls extending upwardly from the periphery of said bottom and terminating in a continuous integral peripheral rim, said side walls having irregularly shaped surfaces; a closure extending across the opening formed by said upstanding side walls and attached to said continuous rim to form a sealed container; a label member attached at its upper end to said closure and ex tending downwardly from said rim over at least a portion of the irregularly shaped surfaces of one of said upstanding side walls, the lower end of said label member being folded inwardly and bonded directly to the underside of said bottom, said label member having indicia at least on the downwardly extending portion thereof.

2. An article of manufacture in accordance with claim 1 wherein said container base has four upstanding side walls and an outwardly extending flange connected to the upper edge of said upstanding side walls, and wherein said side wall surfaces are irregularly shaped due to reinforcing ribs formed therein.

3. An article of manufacture in accordance with claim 2 wherein said outwardly extending flange is relatively resilient to thereby protect said label member against accidental tearing.

4. An article of manufacture in accordance with claim 1 wherein said closure and said label member are formed of a single piece of sheet material, said label member being in the form of an extension of at least a portion of one side of said closure.

5. An article of manufacture in accordance with claim 4 wherein said closure is heat sealed to said rim in all areas of contact to form a liquid-tight container.

6. An article of manufacture in accordance with claim 5 wherein said container base has four upstanding side walls and said rim is an outwardly extending flange connected to the upper edge of said upstanding side walls, and wherein said closure is provided with four label member extensions which extend downwardly over respective ones of said upstanding side walls to form side labels, the lower end of each of said label member extensions being bonded directly to the underside of said bottom.

7. An article of manufacture in accordance with claim 5 wherein said closure is provided with a plurality of label member extensions which extend downwardly over respective ones of said upstanding side walls to form side labels, the lower end of each of said label member extensions being bonded directly to the underside of said bottom.

8. An article of manufacture in accordance with claim 7 wherein said upstanding side walls taper upwardly and outwardly from said bottom, and wherein said label mem ber extensions are tapered along the sides thereof in conformity with the tapes of said upstanding side walls so that the lower end of each label member extension is at least as narrow as the portion of said bottom to which it is bonded.

9. An article of manufacture in accordance with claim 1 wherein said closure is a relatively rigid cover, the upper end of said label member extending over at least a portion of the upper surface of said cover.

10. An article of manufacture in accordance with claim 9 wherein said label member is in the form of a top label extending over said cover and having a plurality of extensions which extend downwardly over respective ones of said upstanding side walls to form side labels, the lower end of each of said extensions being bonded directly to the underside of said bottom.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,130,445 9/1938 Bemiss 206-4533 3,027,997 4/1962 Reifers 206-4533 3,253,762 5/ 1966 Gaunt 229-2.5 3,402,873 9/1968 Lauterbach 22943 DAVID M. BOCKENEK, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 

